Boy, aren't you glad you don't have socialized medicine?

Boy, aren't you glad you don't have socialized medicine?
http://sideshow.me.uk/sjul09.htm#07011327

..............

During my time in Venezuela, I developed a cough that went on for three weeks and progressively worsened. Finally, after I had become incredibly congested and developed a fever, I decided to attend a Barrio Adentro clinic. The closest one available was a Barrio Adentro II Centro de Diagonostico Integral (CDI) and I headed in without my medical records or calling to make an appointment. Immediately, I was ushered into a small room where Carmen, a friendly Cuban doctor, began questioning me about my symptoms. She listened to my lungs and walked me over to another examination room where, again without waiting, I had x-rays taken. Afterwards, the technician walked me to a chair and apologized profusely that I had to wait for the x-rays to be developed, promising that it would take no more than five minutes. Sure enough, five minutes later he returned with both x-rays developed. Carmen studied the x-rays and informed me that I had pneumonia, showing me the telltale shadows. She sent me away with my x-rays, three medications to treat my pneumonia, congestion, and fever, and made me promise to come back if my conditioned failed to improve or worsened within three days.

I walked out of the clinic with a diagnosis and treatment within twenty-five minutes of entering, without paying a dime. There was no wait, no paperwork, and no questions about my ability to pay, my nationality, or whether, as a foreigner, I was entitled to free comprehensive health care. There was no monetary value connected with my physical well-being; the care I received was not contingent upon my ability to pay. I was treated with dignity, respect, and compassion, my illness was cured and I was able to continue with my journey in Venezuela.

more:
http://cotocrew.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/a-look-at-the-... /

has been confirmed everything will be ok. We will have national health care by christmas, the reccession should be over by the end of the week. I predict solar shingles that will solve our energy problem by spring. I have also heard he may ressurrect Jacko.

your nonsense is what?

Random pot-stirring.

Now they have no excuse not to move.

he was in his speech.

PM me in december if any of these things have happened. I hope I am wrong in my sarcasm but I don't think so.

Al Franken's only redeaming quality is that he is better than coleman. I'm glad a democrat one but I just can't get exited over Al. Sorry I never liked his humor or thought he was very intelligent. I hope I'm wrong but I see an embaressment in the future. Our party is loaded with unbelievable talent and we run a saturday night live comedian.

that have UHC pay for it in taxes. I'm sure when Americans are asked "Would you be willing to pay higher taxes for UHC", at least those who say no or unsure want to know HOW MUCH MORE? I think it would be fantastic to have many clinics for people to go to, and receive the care that you did, but with the feelings here about Venezuela in the US these days, that's probably not the example you want to use.

I pay over 4,000 a year in premiums, then add in deductables and medications for a normal year (I went into the hospital this year so that doesn't count) I probably pay another 4000.00 a year. I'm probably being conservative. So, if they wanted to take 10,000 a year in taxes but took away all of those other costs. I would be perfectly fine. After this year, I'd probably be willing to pay more like 15000.

http://policyalternatives.ca/index.cfm?act=news&call=22...

New CCPA study finds BC has the advantage over Washington State

(Vancouver) A new report released today by the BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives finds that BC has the advantage over Washington State. The report, "In Search of the Good Life: 'Competitiveness' in British Columbia and Washington State," looks at both traditional business measures of competitiveness as well important cost-of-living and quality of life measures.

"British Columbians keep hearing that we have to follow Washington State's example of lower taxes and smaller government if we want to compete for investment and highly-skilled workers, especially in the high tech industry," says Donna Vogel, author of the study and a researcher with the Centre's BC office.

The study finds that BC is on par with WA when it comes to most traditional business measures such as taxes and business costs. It is in the areas of tax fairness, cost of living and quality of life that BC ranks well ahead of WA. "Traditional business measures of 'competitiveness' tell us very little about quality of life for most people," says Vogel.

... BC's tax system is much more fair than WA's, which is the most regressive tax system in the US. "Low income families in WA pay almost three times more of their income in state taxes than high income families. And although an average BC family pays $1,633 more per year in provincial taxes than a WA family pays in state taxes, BC spends $1,118 more per person on public programs. The tax savings in WA are more than wiped out by higher private spending by families for important goods and services like health care and university tuition.

The whole study is here:

http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/BC_Office_Pu...

and specifically addresses the question of what residents in the two jurisdictions pay in taxes and for healthcare.

BC is one of the few provinces that charges non-tax premums for the health insurance plan. I believe the sliding scale maxes out at $108/month for a family.

The question of the costs of the two types of system is important, when considering how taxes might rise vs. direct costs of insurance and co-pays and other out of pocket expenses fall.

From the New England Journal of Medicine 2003:

http://www.pnhp.org/publications/nejmadmin.pdf

Costs of Health Care Administration in the United States and Canada

results

In 1999, health administration costs totaled at least $294.3 billion in the United States, or $1,059 per capita, as compared with $307 per capita in Canada. After exclusions, administration accounted for 31.0 percent of health care expenditures in the United States and 16.7 percent of health care expenditures in Canada. Canada’s national health insurance program had overhead of 1.3 percent; the overhead among Canada’s private insurers was higher than that in the United States (13.2 percent vs. 11.7 percent). Providers’ administrative costs were far lower in Canada.

Between 1969 and 1999, the share of the U.S. health care labor force accounted for by administrative workers grew from 18.2 percent to 27.3 percent. In Canada, it grew from 16.0 percent in 1971 to 19.1 percent in 1996. (Both nations’ figures exclude insurance-industry personnel.)

conclusions

The gap between U.S. and Canadian spending on health care administration has grown to $752 per capita. A large sum might be saved in the United States if administrative costs could be trimmed by implementing a Canadian-style health care system.

Good things to know, and I'm always very happy to pass them on!

...didn't give you time to even read the magazines in the waiting room or use your new Cell-phone to call the Insurance people and beg for treatment.

I'm...I'm..so sorry. We are Here for you though!

in the good ole US of A.

have that kind of care in this country. Isn't it sad that what a majority of citizens want - is ignored.

health care that is about CARE!

http://www.pnhp.org/blog/2009/02/25/health-care-spendin... /

Health Spending Projections Through 2018: Recession Effects Add Uncertainty To The Outlook

By Andrea Sisko and colleagues at Office of the Actuary, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Health Affairs

February 24, 2009

http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/h...

"Projected spending for 2009:

$2,509.5 billion - National Health Expenditures (NHE)

$8,160.3 - NHE per capita

17.6% - NHE as percent of GDP

These are the most reliable numbers to use that represent our health care spending for this year. Rounding off these numbers makes them easier to remember and eases communication of the amounts:

Total health spending is two and one-half trillion dollars

Health spending per person is over 8100 dollars

That amounts to about seventeen and one-half percent of our GDP."

Older figures but still worth a quick look...

Health Statistics > Spending > Per person (most recent) by country

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_spe_per_per-healt...

I'm guessing you met one of those doctors and given the appropriate workup you received, you can see they are kickass doctors. And yes, that system rocks.

*i* 100% support socialized medicine. but for me personally, my insurance
plan is much better than what i would get under any socialized plan. i support socialized medicine because it's the right thing to do for society. for me, it would be a step back.

I had fallen and cut myself in a dirty gutter. X-ray, examination by ER physician, tetanus shot, prescription for antibiotics.

Same thing in London about 15 years ago when my mother fell and injured her head. The resident who treated her just couldn't be bothered with the paperwork.

The difference was that we were in the UK at the nadir of the Thatcher effect. My local friend drove us at top speed to the nearest hosptial in working-class northeast London. There, we spent 5 hours in the ER waiting room after being triaged. The nurse had no ice to give us for the huge lump on my mother's forehead, and I had no change, so I had to bum money from the people in the waiting room -- mainly obviously low-income people and immigrants and a couple of rather seriously mentally ill individuals -- to buy cold Coke from the machine to hold to her head. There was blood on the floor when we entered and when we left, and blood got added to the reception desk as we were there.

When the resident told us to go home and put ice on the injury, I looked at the nurse who had had no ice, and said "Ice. What a novel idea." He said "Well that's what you get when you have a single-tier health system." I said "We have a single-tier health system at home. We also have ice."

The *fact* was that the UK had a TWO-tier health system, and that was the whole problem. As we waited in the ER, my local friend's partner was in a private room in a private hospital, because they had private insurance, choosing her meals from the room-service menu. The public tier of the system had been left to languish, as funding was increasingly withdrawn.

This is why we in Canada will fight tooth and nail to keep private health insurance out of our health system. Us and Cuba.

I doubt that you can expect to move to single public payer in the US overnight -- we didn't in Canada, remember; it took decades to get the public plan nationally after it started in one province, to get full health coverage rather than just hospital coverage, and eventually to get private insurers and co-pays to providers ("extra billing") out of the system.

But try not to give up on a strong public insurer component when you start on this path. Regulation of the private insurance market is a good and necessary step too, but I hope you get a foot on the public payer ladder soon.

Now that Al Franken	obliviously	Jul-01-09 09:46 AM	#1
And the relationship between the topic in this thread and	MineralMan	Jul-01-09 10:24 AM	#5
They will be able to overcome filibuster.	obliviously	Jul-01-09 11:25 AM	#6
And the reason for the obvious sarcasm?	MineralMan	Jul-01-09 11:59 AM	#7
Gotta inflate the post count somewhere. n/t	trotsky	Jul-01-09 03:39 PM	#14
I'm not as confident as	obliviously	Jul-01-09 07:54 PM	#17
You seem pretty confident	obliviously	Jul-01-09 07:57 PM	#18
Bitter much?	Crunchy Frog	Jul-01-09 11:25 PM	#19
Bitter no Puzzled yes !	obliviously	Jul-02-09 12:40 AM	#20
I would like to know more info on just how much people in countries	napi21	Jul-01-09 09:49 AM	#2
To cover my family with my insurance from work	tavalon	Jul-01-09 02:07 PM	#11
a Canadian study from 2001	iverglas	Jul-01-09 05:55 PM	#16
Aww..kpete..Your Experience sounds horrible. ...I mean, those bastards...	BlueJazz	Jul-01-09 09:52 AM	#3
But...But...But...yah, that was "brown folk's" medicine, not the same as we have here .	MNDemNY	Jul-01-09 10:07 AM	#4
Great story. Thanks for sharing. Wouldn't it be nice if we could	JimWis	Jul-01-09 12:10 PM	#8
pretty cool isnt it	reggie the dog	Jul-01-09 01:27 PM	#9
Health care spending for 2009	slipslidingaway	Jul-01-09 01:28 PM	#10
Cuba sends places like Venezuela doctors to help the locals create socialized medicine	tavalon	Jul-01-09 02:09 PM	#12
yes	paulsby	Jul-01-09 03:33 PM	#13
I had the same experience in Havana 30 years ago	iverglas	Jul-01-09 05:43 PM	#15